Volkswagen, Museum of Modern Art Announce N.Y. Sponsorship Deal

The exterior of the Museum of Modern Art. Volkswagen AG and the Museum of Modern Art announced a two-year, multi-million-dollar partnership. Photographer: Timothy Hursley/MoMA via Bloomberg

May 23 (Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG and the Museum of
Modern Art announced a two-year, multimillion-dollar sponsorship
in New York today.

The deal will provide funding for: an exhibition of
international contemporary art at MoMA’s Long Island City, New
York, branch, PS1, in 2013; a series of installations in the
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden; an expansion of
online education; and the acquisition of two works by Belgian
artist Francis Alys, whose current retrospective at the museum
is sponsored by Volkswagen.

The company and the museum declined to disclose the total
amount of the sponsorship.

“The scale of support is absolutely remarkable from our
perspective,” said MoMA director Glenn D. Lowry.

The collaboration with MoMA is part of the German
automaker’s expansion in the U.S. and its push to become the
world’s leading carmaker. The press conference announcing the
sponsorship came a day before the opening ceremony for
Volkswagen’s $1 billion factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

“MoMA is one of the world’s most admired cultural
institutions,” said Martin Winterkorn, chief executive officer
of the Wolfsburg, Germany-based company.

The museum has discussed partnerships with various
corporations over the years, Lowry said, adding that Volkswagen
“shared interest in the kinds of programs we are keen on
developing.”

The two-year contract could be expanded depending on its
success.

Lowry said at the press conference that a VW was the “first
car given to me by my parents. It lasted exactly 24 hours before
I crashed it into a tree. I liked it so much, I went out and
bought one, and I still had it 10 years later.”